Consumer attitudes toward products may be consciously-accessible (explicit) and unconscious (implicit). Itis challenging to evaluate the effects of product design on consumer attitudes, because design may exertunconscious influences on consumer attitudes. This study tested the effectiveness of two prominentmeasures of implicit attitudes in discriminating products of differing design qualities. The measures usedwere the Evaluative Movement Assessment (EMA) and priming effects of washer images in the LexicalDecision Task (LDT). Explicit liking was also assessed. Responses were assessed to four washingmachines chosen to span a range of quality and style options available on the market. Findings showed thatthe EMA but not the LDT measure discriminated the products, as well as the responses of buyers and nonbuyers.Furthermore, the EMA and explicit ratings appear to tap into different aspects of consumerattitudes. Implications for product design and evaluation are discussed.
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